Renewable energy promotion in IEA countries

Although promotion of renewable energy in countries of the International Energy Agency22IEA countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States. is not new, many countries have intensified their efforts in this area over the 1990s. The most widespread measures used are financial incentives, but voluntary agreements, ‘green pricing’ and targets are becoming more common. As a result, the use of some renewables has increased since 1990, especially for electricity generation. However, geothermal, solar and wind energy account for only 0.7% of total IEA energy supply and their contribution will remain small as long as their cost remains above that of competing fuel supplies.